Saturday, June 28, 2008

Diva got liposuction!

Well, not really! But she did get three fat lumps removed from underneath her armpits -- poor little one. It was a big day for Toby and Diva yesterday -- they both went in to get their teeth cleaned and their blood work done as well. I dropped them off at 8:30am and then went and hiked Turtle Mountain again -- this time the whole way. For those of you who don't know it yet, I've started another blog about hiking in the Crowsnest Pass! Hee-hee! :) :)

It is always difficult taking them into the back room where all the other dogs and cats are barking, yipping, howling, and meowing. We originally got Diva (who was no trouble at all, bless her little heart) into one kennel, and Toby (with great difficulty) into another one. Toby was freaking out, standing on her hind legs and rapidly scratching the plexi-glass door.

We then moved her into the same kennel as Diva and then we had to go. Mike has a really difficult time doing this -- he was having a hard time saying good-bye to Toby, especially when she got on her hind legs and started scratching like crazy. The old plexi-glass door was just a rattlin', and then all these other dogs started to do the same thing!! Oh man, it was like prisoners all rattling their cage bars in a jail-house riot or something. LOL!!!

We left right away -- I don't have so hard a time doing this anymore because of two reasons: I take the babies to the vet all the time, and I have learned that your animals will remain calm if you are calm. The trick is to calmly drop them off and then walk away and don't look back. Even if they start whining pitifully -- you must walk away. Poor Mike!!

After my hike (details of which are posted on my other blog), we drove to the vet's to pick them up. Toby was out of it, but could walk-- albeit crookedly. Diva was still completely zonked. My vet had only finished with her at 2:00pm (it was about 4:00pm by now) because another little dog who had been hit by a car was rushed in. (Everybody's fine, by the way!) Mike had to carry Diva out and I sat with her in the back of the car as he drove carefully home.

Her tongue was hanging right out to the side and she couldn't move. Mike carried her into the house and laid her down on her favourite spot on the carpet. I dampened a corner of a face cloth and squeezed some water onto her tongue -- Diva managed to get most of her tongue back into her mouth, and then she just lay there. I went for a quick lake swim, while Mike watched over her -- He told me when I got back that she had really struggled to stand up and he made her lie back down, and then she pooped! Poor little thing!

Late in the night, I had my super-sensitive bat-man ears tuned to Diva, and when I heard her moan, I popped out of bed to go to her. I knew she had to go outside to pee, so I carefully picked her up (all 90+ lbs of her -- good thing I train!!), avoiding her stitches on both sides of her little body, and carried her down the stairs. Once on the grass, she walked gingerly -- I could see the pain was setting in, but she found a good spot and had the longest pee I have ever seen -- we're talking Austin Powers type here.

She then made her way over to this bowl of water I always have outside for them and proceeded to drink about 1 liter!! LOL! I was standing outside in my PJ's, shivering in bare feet and waiting for Diva to be done - but I would do anything for her!! :) :)

Diva slept well the rest of the night, and was able to get up to eat her special "breakfast nuggets" and her "medicine." Breakfast nuggets are 5 big chunks of dental dog food that I put in their bowls every morning -- on top of their normal food. Then, it's time for medicine -- each pup gets the requisite medicine squished into a piece of processed cheese. I tried using the fat free slices once and Toby promptly spit it out!! LOL!!

I'm looking forward to this weekend -- Kelsey and I are going to hook up for a nice lake swim!! :) :)

1 comment:

Susi said...

i'm so glad the gang is doing well. and that the wee pup that was hit by a car was ok. phew!!

give them all a big hug from me!

have a great time swimming!!! let me know what you think of the silicone ear plugs if you were able to get some. if you can't find them down there i will send some to you.